From the start everyone could tell it was going to be a tough one for both teams to out play the other.  Both teams were battling against each other the whole first quarter. The first quarter came to an end with senior captain Andrew Griffiths hitting a buzzer beater from deep three point range.  Everyone in the gym was cheering and Andrew’s teammates surrounded him and cheered him on as he celebrated. Both Pine Grove and Tamaqua were struggling with fouls, Pine Grove was really getting killed by the refs bad calls.  The whole first half was filled with lead changes, fouls, and intense moments. Going into halftime it was still a close one with Pine Grove still leading 26-24.

After halftime Tamaqua came out setting a statement with a 9-0 run to start the second half and came up with the biggest lead of the game 33-26.  The Pine Grove players and fans were in shock that Tamaqua came out of halftime with a lot of energy and ambition to win this game after being down most of the first half of play.  Both sides players still were dealing with foul trouble, Andrew Griffiths being fouled out in the 3rd quarter was a big loss for the Cardinals. With four minutes to go in the game Tamaqua was up 57-49 and Pine Grove had to do work quickly if they wanted to come back and win this game in the last couple minutes.  The Cardinals fell short to Tamaqua 68-61 in a tough game. Dawson Ibarra says “It was a battle right from the start and it stayed close and it sucks that we were not able to come out on top.”

Before the Varsity game began the JV game was a battle, going into 5 overtimes and scoring over 180 points.  It was a crazy way to begin the night, “The gym has never been so loud for a JV game in the time that I have been here” said Josh Leininger.  The WNEP news came to videotape the Varsity game but ended up videotaping a lot of the JV game and they put it on the live TV later that night.  Pine Grove’s JV came up short in the fifth overtime losing 95-88.